Flush control unit



March l5, 1966 Filed April 6, 1964 A. M. ZROLKA FLUSH CONTROL UNIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ma? ma@ :MM-7 un E March 15, 1966 A. M. zRoLKA 3,239,848

FLUSH CONTROL UNIT Filed April e, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

LEXA/VR M. ZLK

BY HMM United States Patent O 3,239,848 FLUSH CONTROL UNIT Alexander M. Zrolka, Charlotte, N.C., assignor to Radiator Specialty Company, Charlotte, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed Apr. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 357,677 6 Claims. (Cl. 4-57) This invention relates to means for operating a toilet flush tank and more particularly to an improved tank ball structure which may be pivotally mounted for dependable operation without requiring precise alignment while also forming an exceptionally effective seal. This invention also provides an advantageous mounting arrangement by which the improved tank ball can be simply and easily installed for use.

Generally characterized, the present invention comprises a pivotally mounted tank ball formed with an annular cushion structure presenting an annular surface portion for sealing contact with the circumferential rim of a drain outlet in a flush tank and including means for concentrating the gravity head of water stored in the tank at opposite edges of the annular surface portion so as to deform this surface portion over the drain outlet rim for effective sealing thereat. In addition, particularly advantageous mounting means for the tank ball is provided comprising a resilient ring bracket biased inwardly and having a normal inner diameter yslightly less than the diameter of the overflow stand pipe and including outwardly extending pivot lugs for pivotally supporting the tank ball.

These and other features of the present invention are described in further detail below in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a right elevation View partially in section of a flush tank illustrating a flush control unit embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the flush control unit taken substantially along line 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the tank ball mounting bracket;

FIG, 4 is a detail sectional view illustrating a deformed condition of the tank ball;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation view of the flush control unit illustrated in FIG. l; and

FIG. 6 is a detail view illustrating the adjustable pulling chain `of the present invention,

Referring now in detail to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates the bottom wall 10 of a conventional flush tank supporting a drain -outlet housing 12 with an overflow stand pipe 14 disposed thereon and formed in the conventional manner to include a passageway 16 through which the stand pipe 14 may by-pass overow to the drain outlet housing 12.

The stand pipe 14 has a resilient ring bracket 22 mounted thereon which is a metal bar member formed to include a coiled center portion 24 (FIGS, 2 and 3) which is biased inwardly to a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the stand pipe 14 to assure a gripping fit thereon, and a pair of terminal portions which rst extend outwardly from the center portion 24 in opposite relation and then upwardly to form pivot lugs 26; the upwardly extending portions of the pivot lugs 26 providing handle means against which the lingers of the hand may be pressed using the stand pipe 14 as a fulcrurn to move the pivot lugs 26 in a direction to overcome the inward bias of the center portion 24 for increasing its diameter so as to loosen the ring bracket 22 for installation, removal or adjustment on the stand pipe 14.

The tank ball 20 is pivotally mounted on the pivot lugs 26 by a pair of pivot legs 28 which extend therefrom in spaced parallel relation and which are mounted on the outwardly extending portions of the pivot legs 28 by ice aligned apertures 30 which form the pivot axis for the tank ball 20; each of the pivot legs 28 is made suiciently flexible to permit the extending ends thereof to be twisted approximately so that the aperture 30 may be passed along the upwardly extending portion of one of the pivot lugs 26 to install the tank ball 20 on the ring bracket 22 or, similarly, to remove it therefrom.

The tank ball 20 is made of rubber or the like and includes an annular cushion structure formed by a circular top wall 32 joined at its outer edge to a peripheral wall 34 to which pivot legs 28 are connected and which, in turn, is joined to the outer edge of an annular bottom ball 36 extending in spaced relation to the top wall 32, and an annular leg wall 38 depending from the top wall 32 concentrically with respect to the peripheral wall 34 and aligned so as to bear substantially at the inner edge of the bottom wall 36 to form an annular air space 39 for cushioning the bottom wall 36. The bottom wall 36 of the annular cushion structure presents a substantially annular seating surface 40 at its bottom face for abutment with the drain outlet rim 18 when the tank ball 20 is in its seated position. The bottom wall 36 and the peripheral wall 34 are approximately one half as thick as the top wall 32 so as to be relatively flexible, and as the level of the stored water begins to rise above the tank ball 20, the gravity head of the water acts downwardly against the relatively rigid top wall 32 causing the relatively ilexible peripheral wall 34 to deform as illustrated in FIG. 4 until the leg wall 38, which is normally spaced from the bottom wall 36 in the passive condition of the tank ball 20 (FIG. l), abuts the inner edge of the bottom wall 36 and acts together with peripheral wall 34 to concentrate the gravity head of water at the inner and outer edges of the bottom wall 36 for effectively sealing the drain outlet rim 18 by stretching the seating surface 40 thereover as illustrated in FIG. 4.

The annular bottom surface 40 has a width which is considerably larger than the width of the rim 18 to obviate any necessity of precise alignment of the tank ball 20 for proper sealing at the rim 18.

When it is desired to release the stored water through the drain outlet housing 12, the seal at the drain outlet rim 18 must be broken to permit the tank ball 20 to be pivoted about the pivot lugs 26 to a displaced position clear of the drain housing 12 as shown by the dotted lines in FIG. l. For this purpose, one end of a bead chain 42 is connected to the top wall 32 of the tank ball 20 at a position which is near the outer periphery thereof and oppositely located with respect to the pivot legs 28 so as to be remote from the pivotal mounting of the tank ball 20 and also in substantial alignment in the central plane of tank ball pivoting. The other end of the bead chain 42 has an adjustable loop portion 44 which is passed through one of the apertures 46 in a conventional lifting arm 48 so that when the arm 48 is pivoted, the bead chain 42 will cause a pulling force to be exerted on the top wall 32 adjacent the peripheral wall 34 for causing localized deformation of the relatively flexible bottom wall 36 and peripheral wall 34 which locally separates the annular sealing surface 40 from the rim 18 to break the seal thereat (identified by numeral 49 in FIG. 5). It is obvious, of course, that applying the pulling force to the flexible walls 34 and 36 so as to cause localized deformation of lthe seating surface 40 requires a considerably smaller force than if the pulling force acted to separate a more rigid sealing surface about its entire circumference or a large portion thereof.

Once the seal between the sealing surface 48 and the rim 18 is broken, the air trapped in a buoyance compartment 50 attached at the inner periphery of the bottom wall 36 and in the air space 39 will cause the tank ball 20 to oat to its displaced position thereby permitting the stored water to be released through the drain housing 12. The air space 39 is particularly effective in floating the tank ball 20 to its displaced position because of the substantial air volume held at the enlarged diameter of the space 39.

The bead chain 42 is fitted with a retaining clip S2 (FIG. 6) which is fianged inwardly at its end portions 54 for engaging bead elements of the chain 42 passed through conventional access slots 55 (FIG. l) leading thereto, and which has apertures 56 and 58, respectively, in its opposite side walls to permit the chain 42 to be trained therethrough. The adjustable loop 44 is formed by passing the chain 42 through the apertures 56 and 58 in the clip 52 and then through one of the apertures 46 in the lifting arm 48 and inserting the terminal bead element of the chain 42 in one of the end portions 514 for engagement thereby; the chain 42 is then trained through the apertures 56 and 58 until the loop 44 is of such size as to permit a slight slack in the chain 42 between the tank ball 20 and the lifting arm 48 (FIG. l) whereupon the bead element most nearly adjacent the other end portion 58 is engaged thereby to fix the loop 44 at its desired extent.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

.1. In a fiush control unit for installation in a toilet fiush tank to control the release of flush water therefrom by providing a tank ball pivotally mounted on an overflow stand pipe in said :tank for selective pivoting between a first position seated on and sealing the circumferential rim of a drain outlet in said tank and a second displaced position clear of said drain outlet and the rim thereof, the improvement which comprises the formation of said tank ball with an annular cushion structure presenting an annular surface portion for sealing contact with said drain outlet rim, said surface portion being substantially wider than the width of said rim, and said annular cushion structure additionally incorporating means for bearing at the opposite annular edges of said annular surface portion to concentrate the gravity head of water stored in said tank substantially at the opposite edges of said annular surface portion and thereby deforming said surface portion over said rim for effective sealing thereat.

2. In a iiush control unit of the character described, the improvement dened in claim 1 and further characterized in that said annular surface portion is presented at the bottom face of an annular bottom wall portion of said cushion structure, and in that said gravity head concentrating means includes a peripheral wall portion joined at and extending uprightly from the outer edge of said annular bottom wall portion, a tank ball top wall joined at the upper edge of said peripheral wall portion in spaced relation above said bottom wall portion, and an annular leg portion depending from said top wall concentrically with respect to said peripheral wall portion and aligned for bearing substantially at the inner edge of said annular bottom wall portion.

`3. In a flush control unit of the character described, the improvement defined in claim 2 and further characterized in that said bottom and peripheral wall portions are proportioned in thickness for relatively greater flexibility than said tank ball top wall so as to deform under the force of said gravity head until said annular leg portion is seated in bearing abutment at said inner edge of said annular bottom wall portion.

4. In a fiush control unit of the character described, the improvement defined in claim 3 and further characterized in that said tank ball top wall has pulling means connected thereto adjacent said peripheral wall portion for breaking the seal of said annular surface portion at said drain outlet rim through localized deformation of said relatively flexible bottom and peripheral wall portions under the pull of said means to separate said surface locally from said rim.

`5. In a iiush control unit of the character described, the improvement defined in claim 4 and further characterized in that said pulling means is connected to said top wall remotely with respect to the tank ball pivot mounting and in substantial alignment in the central plane of tank ball pivoting.

6. In a flush unit of the character described, the improvement defined in claim 4 and further characterized in that said pulling means comprises a bead chain fitted with a tubular retaining clip having opposite side wall portions thereof apertured to allow training of said bead chain laterally therethrough, having both ends thereof flanged inwardly for retaining engagement with the bead elements of said bead chain, and having an access slot extending to each of said flanged end portions from one of said side wall apertures, whereby said bead chain may be engaged by said retaining clip with a loop formed therein of desired extent.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,101,991 12/1937 Finley et al 4-52 2,705,808 4/ 1955 Crockett 4-57 2,763,872 9/1956 Nelson 4-57 2,779,028 l/1957 Branch 4-57 2,839,761 6/1958 Heidman 4-57 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A FLUSH CONTROL UNIT FOR INSTALLATION IN A TOILET FLUSH TANK TO CONTROL THE RELEASE OF FLUSH WATER THEREFROM BY PROVIDING A TANK BALL PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON AN OVERFLOW STAND PIPE IN SAID TANK FOR SELECTIVE PIVOTING BETWEEN A FIRST POSITION SEATED ON AND SEALING THE CIRCUMFERENTIAL RIM OF A DRAIN OUTLET IN SAID TANK AND A SECOND DISPLACED POSITION CLEAR OF SAID DRAIN OUTLET AND THE RIM THEREOF, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES THE FORMATION OF SAID TANK BALL WITH AN ANNULAR CUSHION STRUCTURE PRESENTING AN ANNULAR SURFACE PORTION FOR SEALING CONTACT WITH SAID DRAIN OUTLET RIM, SAID SURFACE PORTION BEING SUBSTANTIALLY WIDER THAN THE WIDTH OF SAID RIM, AND SAID ANNULAR CUSHION STRUCTURE ADDITIONALLY INCORPORATING MEANS FOR BEARING AT THE OPPOSITE ANNULAR EDGES OF SAID ANNULAR SURFACE PORTION TO CONCENTRATE THE GRAVITY HEAD OF WATER STORED IN SAID TANK SUBSTANTIALLY AT THE OPPOSITE EDGES OF SAID ANNULAR SURFACE PORTION AND THEREBY DEFORMING SAID SURFACE PORTION OVER SAID RIM FOR EFFECTIVE SEALING THEREAT. 